Travel Vicariously

(This introductory entry will remain on top for newcomers to this Blog. New dispatches from the road have been announced in "The Blog Continues..."

GREETINGS AND WELCOME to the Blog of The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World, one of PC Magazine's "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without," written by freelance travel writer Erik R. Trinidad, and hosted by BootsnAll.com. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking -- but always an entertaining distraction from office work -- this Blog retells the accounts of my sixteen-month journey around the world (October 2003 to March 2005), which took me over 95,000 miles across thirty-seven countries on five continents. This trip is sadly already over, but don't you worry you desktop travelers out there looking for a virtual escape from your mundane desk jobs; the day-to-day stories of the 503-day affair have been immortalized here on the internet, joining the ranks of the other immortal things on-line, like animated dancing hamsters and porn!

If at any time you feel that your boss is lurking, you can simply CLICK HERE to spawn a screenshot of an important-looking Excel spreadsheet to cover the fact that you are reading this and not doing any work. (It can also help cover any porn you may be surfing on the side.)

IF YOU'RE JUST DISCOVERING THIS BLOG NOW (as many people apparently are), you are the latest hit in a count of over 55,000 unique hits of people who have been following me on my adventures around the world. Since Day One, I've tried to make each day's entry as interesting as possible, although I'll admit I've had some boring days -- not many, but some. For example, there wasn't too much excitement in the first couple of weeks of my trip when I was enrolled in a two-week Spanish course in Quito, Ecuador, but during that time I managed to liven things up with pictures of my diarrhea.

Yes, it's that kind of a Blog, folks.

If you can get over that, you'll probably enjoy the entries from the rest of the trip, which, in this Blogwriter's opinion, only got better and better as time went on -- and without the need of gratuitous poo pictures either. When this Blog began, it was written just as a little journal to keep friends and family updated on my whereabouts, but as it got passed and forwarded along a thousand times over, it eventually evolved into a phenomenon for an international audience. With the bar raised, I started to treat it like a daily travel humor column and on-line reality travel show, which sometimes drove me crazy, but was ultimately rewarding.

So, for the ultimate vicarious journey around the world without having to leave your computer, may I suggest watching the "Would You?" slideshow first, and then simply reading all 503+ entries, starting from the beginning on Day One in October 2003, and reading everything from entry to entry, month to month. If you are the attention deficient kind and want to skip to the good stuff, here are some of the highlights:

As overwhelming as this highlight list seems, any regular reader of this Blog will tell you that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. For the full effect, you should really just read everything in order from the beginning, since many times there are references to previous entries that aren't necessarily highlighted here.

ANYWAY, WELCOME AGAIN to the Blog of The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World. While this is in no way, shape, or form a substitute for actual travel, I hope that, at the very least, it can help you get through your boring day at the office when you are supposed to be working on something more "important." Oh wait, is that your boss coming? Quick, CLICK HERE!

If you enjoy this daily travel blog, please post a comment! Give me suggestions, send me on missions, let me know how things are going back home in the USA. Knowing that I have an audience will only force me to make this blog more entertaining as the days go by. Don´t forget to bookmark it and let a friend know!

Posted by Erik on March 6, 2006 03:46 PM
Category: Epilogue

I stumbled upon this wonderful, strange and amusing story of yours just before going to Cairo from Gothenburg, Sweden. I myself had not seen any country outside Scandinavia before going to Japan on my own at the age of 17. I've been there 3 times now, and I thought I really should see something more than Japan. Yes, I have been to Mykonos, Greece for a week, just because I missed a flight to athens... not a very interesting place. And, yes, surely Japan is a place everyone would like to go to - but I'm up to here *hand over head* with the dark, strange and unmotivatedly complicated sides of that country. Haha, Egypt, I suspect now after reading your section about Cairo might be quite similar to Tokyo - but I'll give it a go. Especially since I got an offer I could not refuse : "Fly to and back from Egypt for 200USD using your flightpoints accumulated by going to Japan 3 times"... Ma'assalama - and I'm off!

Posted by: Joseph Eriksson 24yo on March 31, 2005 02:31 AM

Is this last call? Say it ain't so. Great job from start to finish! I'm grateful you allowed us to (vicariously) follow you on all your adventures.

ERIC: Around what time did you start to notice a significantly large number of people were following the blog?

I only found your blog in January 2005 but knew I had to finish your blog after only reading a few entries.

PS That excel picture wasn't that bad compared to what I was reading just before that. I was reading that chili story from the Wendy's in San Jose, CA. If you don't know what I'm talking about go here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285110 (warning: its GROSS)

Posted by: Another Eric on March 28, 2005 03:20 PM

Note, this is NOT the last Blog entry... I have a few more I want to write up for the Prologue. But I keep on getting e-mails from people who JUST discovered this and thought this was appropriate.

Posted by: Erik TGT on March 28, 2005 03:22 PM

This is great - thanks! I like the list of the faves!!

And - "another Eric" - I heard about that story yesterday at Easter festivities - EWWWWWWWWW!

Erik - when I have a boss again, I'll definitely use that... coulda used it last week!

Posted by: Noelle on March 28, 2005 11:17 PM

Glad to see more writing, and I'm reading back thru the older posts now.

Oh, and...Of course it was the second one I had clicked on when a co-worker looked over my shoulder...damn cube farm! I didn't even try to explain it...the same person had seen me at rotten.com too...wonder what she's thinking of me now...lol...

Posted by: HARRY on March 29, 2005 03:04 PM

damn you and your poo pics Erik. lol As I was reading the last paragraph, my boss literally came over to talk to the guy sitting across from me and I clicked on that link. lol

Posted by: Rina on March 30, 2005 03:25 PM

hey guys!

i just wanna give a special shout out to those hot filipino boys that was at my table yesterday at stitch! you guys are so hot! espescially the one who bought me the shot of jameo. i'll ride your ghetto van anytime! woo hoo!!!

Posted by: jessicafromstitch on March 31, 2005 03:05 PM

Ok since no one stepped up and bought me a drink in DC (I know Sim would have if he was around!)...does anyone want to sponsor me for the Revlon Run/Walk NY...

all donations benefit the cause for finding the cure for women's cancers...

here's the link if you can:

https://www.revlonrunwalk.com/ny/secure/mywebpage.cfm?pID=224850

If you actually wanna participate in the event and join my team, email me and i'll send details...

Thanks!

Posted by: markyt on April 8, 2005 10:01 PM

Markyt - when i get a job, yes, I'll sponsor you. And when you come out to LA, I'll buy you a drink - provided I have a job at the time. For now everyone else buys ME drinks... :)

Posted by: Noelle on April 9, 2005 01:09 PM

Hi Erik - I haven't stumbled over your wonderful little spot on the Internet until I read the PC Magazine hint; I am, however, probably one of the few people with a really good excuse: My very own 16-month 7-times-around-the-world trip just finished the end of last year. I greatly enjoyed reliving many of my own experiences through somebody else's eyes... if you'd like to do the same I have all maps and about 500 out of 13,000+ photos posted on my own web site in the "traveling man" - "globetrotting" section. There's also a much less elaborate and less-than-daily blog available at http://matthiasworldwide.blogspot.com - enjoy! Cheers, Matthias.

Posted by: Matthias on April 30, 2005 01:42 PM

March 06, 2006